Science and Religion Flashcards Preview

Define science.

The pursuit of knowledge through detailed observation and experimentation to prove theories and hypotheses.

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Define religion.

Define religion.

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What is a hypothesis?

A proposition or guess based on some evidence that has yet to be tested.

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What is a theory?

A working model of a particular field that can be used to make predictions about events.

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Describe the big bang theory.

All the matter in the universe was originally in one concentrated place. This began to expand in a hot explosion (the big bang) approximately 13.7 billion years ago. The universe is still expanding now.

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Describe the biblical creation story.

In the book of genesis, God creates the universe, working for 6 days and resting for the 7th day. He created the first 2 humans- Adam and Eve- in his own image.

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What is the order that God created the universe according to genesis?

1- God said 'let there be light'2- God created the sky3- God separated the land and sea4- God 'let the land produce vegetation'5- God created the stars and the planets6- God created the birds and fishes7- God created the land animals8- God made Adam and Eve

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What is evolution?

The theory that living things change their features over generations and this series of changes leads to the species we have today.

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What is abiogenesis?

The theory that organic life came from inorganic matter.

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What is natural selection?

The process by which organisms that have features that make them more likely to survive, reproduce more and so increases the instances of that feature in the species

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What is the fossil record?

As sediment builds up chronologically, the fossils can be tracked through time and the adaptations can be seen, supporting evolutionary theory.

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What are vestigial features?

Features in organisms that were once useful but due to adaptation or environmental changes have become redundant. eg. the tail bone or the appendix.

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Define 'allegorical'

Something that tells the truth through a metaphor.

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What are transitional fossils?

Fossils that show a stage of adaptation between two different species.

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What is scientific truth?

Truths that we discover and understand through experimentation and evidence.

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What is religious truth?

Truth that we come to understand through revelation or scripture.

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What is absolute truth.

Fixed, unalterable truths that cannot change regardless of time or culture.

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What was the cosmological revolution?

The development of scientific ideas that challenged religious beliefs in the late middle ages.

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What is creationism?

The view that God is the sole creator of the universe.

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Who was Darwin?

The naturalist who promoted evolution and developed the theory of natural selection.